The Snake

Just so you know, our computer is in dire shape.  The Butterbean may or may not have done something to lead to the demise of our computer.  We are using our backup laptop.  It is very  slow and has no memory, so we have no pictures to post on here.  Hopefully we will be able to get our "good" computer fixed up soon and I can post some adorable pictures for you!

Before moving here Miller was a dream to put to bed.  He would lay down in the bed blow us a kiss and go right to sleep.  The move kind of changed that.  Now we, like many other parents, are putting him back in bed over and over. 

Once our things got here we put the boys together in one room.  It isn't a perfect set up but we thought we'd give it a shot.  Jackson snuggles down with a couple stuffed animals and is in dreamland within minutes of laying down.  Seriously it's like five minutes or less.

A week or two ago, I went to check on the boys before going to bed and saw that Miller had Jackson's two animals in bed with HIM.  That snake!  He stole his brother's critters!

Now every night we have to go take Jackson's animals out of Miller's crib and put them back in Jackson's bed.  Jackson would flip out if he knew.

Last night Allen heard Miller out of his bed and walked in the room to find Miller wasn't stealing an animal.  He'd already taken those.  This time he was in the process of carrying Jackson's pillow back to his crib.  The pillow that is 3/4 the size of him.

Are we going to chain the animals down?  Or Miller? 

I kid!  Kind of!

You can't help but laugh, but still...

Bahamas Style

There are so many things here that I see and think, "I need to blog about that!"  Things here are so much the same and so different.  This however had to be blogged and not forgotten.  We were invited to a brunch for American families.  We knew that Santa was going to make an appearance, but it didn't quite prepare me for this


What the what?!?

 

See that blue, blue, blue behind him?  Yes, it IS what you think it is!

Then he did a little of this




Much better than last year!
Also nice not to be THAT family this year!

The View

One of many views here that I love.  Thanks Michele for capturing it!

Done and Done

I have so much to catch up on!  First of all we had nearly 200 boxes come with our shipment.  I knew we were over packing, but really!  When we found out we were moving here we were given the advice to buy all our paper goods and toiletries for a couple of years.  Think about that for a minute.  We have so much stuff.  It is a touch overwhelming, but I also know that it will be so worth it in the long run.

Oh did I mention I don't have any linen closets or bathroom closets.  Gulp!

While our house is very nice and we were so eager to get our things delivered, we weren't quite prepared for where we were going to put all that TP and soap.  It took a while, but finally all the boxes are gone. Done!

We sorta skipped Thanksgiving altogether.  We weren't sure what we were going to do in general.  We know the boys don't eat the whole turkey dinner thing, so we ended up having some nice steaks on Friday night.

My sister Michele showed up on Friday to surprise me.  It was so nice to have her here and get to hang out with her for the weekend.  We went to a beach on Friday afternoon for some walking and decided to go to go for a real beach day on Saturday.  We had been wanting to try a beach here called Jaws Beach that is a little remote.  It looked really nice.

About 15 minutes into our beach day Jackson, who was running, cut his foot on a hidden piece of sharp glass.  When I say cut I mean he had a 4ish inch gash that was pretty deep and shaped like a J.  Shiver!

It was so fortunate that Michele was with us so she could apply pressure as I drove really fast back across the island.  Allen was working the phone getting directions on where to go and who to see.  See we hadn't gotten around to getting a doctor yet, and it was Saturday.  We made a stop at a walk in clinic and they sent us on to the ER.

Jackson was so brave.  He only cried when they gave him the shot to numb his foot. 2 hours and six stitches later we were discharged.  Considering we are basically in a third world country it wasn't that bad.  That being said, I'd like to avoid going back there again!

You know I would have taken pictures, like I did last time he was sent to the ER, but my camera battery died earlier that day.

Since we had to lay low for the rest of the weekend, Jackson said he wanted to put up our tree.  One tiny problem was that there were still a lot of little things that needed to be done before we could put up the tree.  We managed to get a TON done before lunch, so we were able to decorate the tree in the afternoon.

We bought an artificial tree before we left, and we couldn't be more pleased.  No fighting with the stand or the lights or the water.  I miss the smell, and the traditions that go along with buying a tree, but I'm guessing we won't be going back to the real trees anytime soon.  At least not as long as we are here and they are $100 and up!  That's what they make Yankee Candles for.  Got that sucker put up and decorated in record time.  DONE!!

It is quite odd to be in shorts everyday and come in and turn on the tree lights and garland, but if you turn the AC down enough...it still feels weird!

I know my friends and family in colder climates are hating on me a little bit for living in the Bahamas, but I promise my life is just like it used to be, but with shorts and better views.

Since no one likes a blog post without pictures, let me see what I can drag up.

I'd like to 1)Stop him from growing up so fast, and

2) Buy that color lipstick.  Aren't they perfect?  His lips that is!

Still here...

Our belongings were delivered last week, and I am beyond busy and tired.  I'm going to take a week or two bloggy break to try and get things together and the house in order.

I'll be back!

I'll be back!  Get it?  Those are their backs.  I am still a dork!

Can your iphone do this?

My last cell phone was held together with packing tape.  No, really, it was.  I dropped it too many times and the back kept falling off.  I thought that clear packing tape was a classier option than duct tape. (read that last sentence again when you need to feel better about yourself)  Yes, it is a matter of degrees, but I do have standards! 
It's not that I didn't want a fancy new phone with texting features and all that, but the thing was that if I got a fancy new phone I had to change calling plans.  The newer calling plans offered fewer minutes for more money.  Why would I pay MORE for LESS?  Mama didn't raise no fool, so I"ll keep my packing taped cell phone, thankyouverymuch!

When we found out we would need new unlocked cell phones for living in the Bahamas, we did very little research.  I wanted an iphone.  Those guys are awesome.  So my terrific sister secured two iphones for us from friends of hers who had recently upgraded to the 4G iphones.  I had plans to restore some modicum of my coolness.

Yeah that didn't happen.  See when we updated iTunes before turning them on it LOCKED the phones.  That's not cool because locked phones don't work.  I felt like this

We thought about it and decided to do basically nothing.  I mean I wanted  to be cool  my new iphone.  I figured that if I waited long enough we could get them unlocked.  Don't really have anybody here to call me, although cell phones are handy.

Then I signed Jackson up for school.  About 48 hours before he was to start I realized that if I didn't have a cell phone I would be chained to our home phone all day long.  In case of emergency and all that. 

When my hand was forced I went to the cell phone store and paid $50 for the least expensive model possible.

I was so pleased that it actually has some features that an iphone DOESN'T have.

Can an iphone listen to FM radio?  Nope!

Can you make a fake phone call on an iphone? Nope! (Well you can, but you have to buy an app for that)

Take that apple!

Another First

Last week was another first for our family. 

I'll be honest and tell you I was not ready for him to go. 

The only option for Pre-School was to send him 5 days a week from 8:15 to 2:45.

That is a long time.

Why so long?  Why every day?

The problem was that he was ready!

Really ready.

Even if I pretended that he wasn't ready and thought I'd keep my baby home a little longer, he told me he wanted to go to school.

I could tell you that as an educator of young children preschool is important. He needs peer interaction, blah, blah, blah.

As a mom I can tell you that I have deliberately tried not to push him much. Not that I want him to be behind, but I know he has the rest of his life to read chapter books.

Why not let him explore his world and throw rocks and play in the sandbox?

I've seen too many parents who want their child to know certain skills by a certain time, no matter what the cost.

What's the rush?

We know that we have a reasonably sharp child and that he learns well on his own.

I am blessed to be a stay at home mom. 

I get to teach him what I want when I see fit. 

I was not ready to fully hand that over.

But he was ready.

That and he can hear the kids at school when they are outside and his poor little self said, "They are having more fun than me."
 

Ouch!

So I went and registered him.

A week later he started.

Thunk, thunk thunk.  That's my heart breaking a little.

Here he is in his cute uniform (minus the black dress shoes he has to wear).

Remember my boys have wide feet?  Had to order those suckers and they aren't here yet!

 He was a little nervous the first day.  When I went to pick him up, he was over the nerves and happy as a clam!

Just so you can see his school.  it is modest.  It is like a motel.  All classrooms open to the outside.  The windows and doors are open all the time.

Giving his new teacher a high five 

Then away we went.  We left our baby with some lady had met once his teacher.

Amazingly I didn't cry.